Yep - the country that made so much money for its people from oil and gas -   
   dumping those oil and gas companies.  Including those in the Alberta   
   tarsands.     
      
   This is an example of a country that knew "when to hold 'em" and better still   
   knew "when to fold 'em".  If Alberta can't learn from the best ($1 trillion   
   wealth fund), they don't deserve any more hearing time for their pleadings for   
   bitumen pipelines and    
   tax breaks for their oil companies.   
   ____________________   
      
   The Canadian Press - March 8, 2019   
      
   Norway, the world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund, is dumping 134 oil and   
   gas companies, 26 of them Canadian   
      
      
   STAVANGER, Norway — Norway’s US$1-trillion wealth fund, the biggest of its   
   kind in the world, will begin dumping shares in oil and gas companies   
   including some Canadian names, but stopped short of barring major producers   
   like Suncor, ExxonMobil and    
   Chevron.   
      
   The move was hailed by environmental activists as a sign that the global   
   economy is increasingly moving away from fossil fuels toward cleaner energy.   
      
   The financial impact, however, may be relatively limited.  The move will focus   
   on companies that trade solely in exploration and production rather than the   
   integrated oil giants, that do everything from searching for fossil fuels to   
   selling them to    
   consumers.   
      
   The fund is looking to sell some US$7.5 billion in shares in 134 energy   
   companies over time, including 26 Canadian names.   
      
   The list includes large Canadian producers such as Canadian Natural Resources   
   Ltd. and Encana Corp. but not large producers that also own refineries such as   
   Suncor Energy Inc. and Husky Energy Inc.   
      
   Calgary-based oilsands producer Cenovus Energy Inc. is on the list even though   
   it owns two U.S. refineries in partnership with Houston-based Phillips 66.   
      
   The Norwegian government said its motivation was not climate activism but   
   financial.  The fund, somewhat ironically, derives its income from Norway’s   
   booming oil and gas industry.  So reinvesting those proceeds in other sectors   
   is considered a way to    
   keep the money safe should oil and gas prices fall.   
      
   “The objective is to reduce the aggregate oil price risk on the whole   
   Norwegian economy,” Minister of Finance Siv Jensen told The Associated   
   Press.  “The Norwegian state is highly exposed to oil.”   
      
   Tax receipts from oil production have made Norway rich.  They underpin   
   generous welfare provisions.  And a hefty proportion is siphoned off into the   
   fund, which was conceived as a pension kitty for the country’s 5.3 million   
   inhabitants.   
      
   In Stavanger, a city on the rainy west coast where many oil companies are   
   based, the sight of US$100,000 Teslas  ヽ(´▽`)/    cruising along   
   fjord-side roads are a marker of the town’s oil-sponsored private wealth.       
      
   Mark Campanale, executive director of the Carbon Tracker Initiative, a   
   think-tank on climate issues, says Friday’s decision is more significant   
   than when the fund sold off its shares in coal companies.   
      
   “This shows that while the fund was initially built on revenue from oil and   
   gas, the Ministry of Finance understands that the future belongs to those who   
   transition away from fossil fuels,” he said.     ¯\_(ツ)_/¯       
      
   “Now is the time for smart investors around the world to follow their lead   
   and make decisions driven by the reality of the energy transition.”   
      
   The selloff of stakes in the Canadian companies is not expected to have a   
   great impact on the market which is already buffeted by issues related to   
   pipeline export capacity and a shortage of capital, said analyst Phil Skolnick   
   of Eight Capital.   
      
   He cited Bloomberg statistics from December that show the wealth fund owned   
   just one per cent of Canadian Natural’s stock, 0.57 per cent of Encana’s   
   shares and 0.68 per cent of Cenovus’ shares.   
      
   “There’s nothing of size when you look at the percentage of total shares   
   outstanding,” he said, while cautioning that the impact could worsen if   
   other large funds follow the Norwegian fund’s lead.   {~_~}     
      
   Jensen said she had instructed Norway’s central bank to monitor how the fund   
   was exposed to companies that could contribute to climate change, which is now   
   considered a major risk for financial returns.  However, it was too early to   
   say how that    
   assessment might impact investment decisions.   
      
   Integrated oil giants were not banned from the fund’s investments in part   
   because those companies are considered most likely to invest in green energy   
   — a market the Norwegian government is keen to profit from.   
      
   “They take on much bigger investments than renewable companies do.  It would   
   be a mistake as I see it to cut off the fund’s possibility to invest in   
   them,” Jensen said.   
      
   Major integrated oil companies will be breathing a sigh of relief, as the   
   Norwegian fund owns large amounts of their shares.  At the end of 2018, it   
   owned shares in around 300 oil producers and service companies including   
   almost US$6 billion in Royal    
   Dutch Shell, or 2.5 per cent of the company.  It owns 2.3 per cent of   
   London-based BP.   
      
   Rather, smaller companies like Marathon Oil and Chesapeake Energy will see   
   their stock sold.  Their shares were down 3.7 and 7.1 in late morning trading   
   in the U.S.   
      
   The Norwegian fund has a stake in more than 9,000 companies worldwide,   
   including the likes of Apple, Nestle, Microsoft and Samsung.  On average, the   
   fund holds 1.4 per cent of all of the world’s listed companies.  About 70   
   per cent of its holdings are    
   in shares.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)